The present invention relates to the use of special purpose waxpaper in microwave heating and cooking.
A longstanding problem in the area of microwave heating of foods has been that, unless the food or comestible to be microwaved is positioned within a wholly enclosed container, that is, one which typically includes a cover that may include small perforations, the food and to draw moisture out of such food cannot, as a practical matter, be heated or microwaved, this due to the fact that foods when heated within a microwave oven will, in large part, splatter out of the microwavable container and against the walls of the microwave oven so that as much of half of a given quantity of food within the microwave container will, in the absence of a suitable cover, be thrown up against the interior surfaces of the microwave oven. This phenomenon, it is believed, is due primarily to the rapid expansion of moisture within the food to be microwaved so that, during microwaving and, particularly, microwaving at high power, an evaporation of water will occur at such a rate that such splattering will result.
Alternatively, prior art usage has included the use of paper toweling and Saran Wrap to cover food, or no use of a covering. Where paper toweling is used, it will often stick to the food, while Saran Wrap will partially melt thereon and, as well, may be toxic.
The traditional response to the above problem has been to provide each microwave container with a cap or cover which, typically (but not always), will include perforations to permit escape of expanding moisture. Where perforations are not provided, a tight substantially moisture-proof cover is provided to the microwavable container to produce a "pressure cooker" effect during the microwaving process.
Quite recently, the Reynolds Aluminum Company began marketing a waxpaper purportedly suitable for use in microwave applications, that is, as a covering or enclosure for use in a microwave environment. However, testing by the within inventor of the Reynolds waxpaper has indicated that the Reynolds material is very light in weight and, typically, will blow or pull off of the microwave container soon after initiation of a microwave sequence, or will otherwise separate from the container permitting escape of steam. Accordingly, it is difficult to maintain contact between microwave waxpaper of the Reynolds type and the open mouth of the microwave container within which food has been placed. Alternatively, and in those instances where the Reynolds waxpaper does not blow off of the food container, it has been found to draw moisture thereinto causing the disintegration thereof. It is believed that, among other reasons, the Reynolds microwave waxpaper does not perform in a desirable way because such paper is too light such that, by its physical characteristics, it will absorb evaporated moisture from the food to be heated thereby causing a rapid drop in the integrity of the Reynolds waxpaper. In view of the above, the Reynolds waxpaper product is of little value in any microwave heating applications.
In the terminology of the paper industry, dry waxpaper is formed by a process in which wax is applied to a bleached parchment type paper such that most of the wax is driven into the paper, leaving little wax upon the surface thereof. Since the surface of such dry waxpaper is left substantially uncoated by wax, the porosity thereof remains significant relative to the porosity of so-called wet waxpaper which is formed by a process in which wax (typically paraffinic wax) is applied upon the surface of each sheet thereby covering or sealing the fibers thereof. In addition, the wax of dry waxpaper will not melt as readily, given the fact that the wax is substantially embedded within the fiber structure of the paper.
The present inventor has thereby discovered that the use of a cover to a microwavable container is not necessary to solve the problem of splattering and, more particularly, has discovered that certain waxpapers can serve as a convenient substitute to a cover to a microwavable container, particularly when the food to be heated is in a container of a size not having an available cover therefore. Also, it has been discovered that such use of special purpose waxpaper can bring about a superheating or steaming of microwaved food thereby accelerating the cooking or re-heating thereof. The invention thereby meets a long felt need in the such steaming of food has been demonstrated to yield a more nutritional food product as opposed to traditional microwave and other methods of cooking which act to dehydrate foods art for a more practical means of covering and heating foods in microwave applications.